Daily Archives: July 5, 2010

On July 1, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Francis J. Ricciardone to be Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey. The WH released the following brief bio:

Francis Joseph Ricciardone, Jr., of Massachusetts, is a Career Minister in the Foreign Service. He has served since 2009 as Deputy Ambassador and Charge’ d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. He also served as Ambassador to Egypt until 2008, and Ambassador to the Philippines and concurrently to Palau. Ambassador Ricciardone began his career in Ankara and Adana, Turkey. He served twice again in Turkey: as political advisor to the US and Turkish commanders of Operation Provide Comfort at Incirlik Air Force Base, and as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge’ d’Affaires. He led the transition to an organization of the US Embassy in Baghdad in 2004, and the Department of State’s Task Force in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. He served as former Secretary Albright’s Special Representative for the Transition of Iraq from 1999-2001.

On July 1, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Paul W. Jones to be Ambassador to Malaysia. The WH released the following brief bio:

Paul W. Jones is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He is currently the Deputy to the Special Representative and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mr. Jones previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires in the Philippines. Prior assignments include Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and Deputy Chief of Mission in Macedonia. Other overseas posts include Colombia and Russia. In Washington, he has served as Director of the Executive Secretariat Staff and Director of the European Bureau’s Balkans office.

Mr. Jones graduated from Cornell University and received Master’s degrees from the University of Virginia and the Naval War College.

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On June 28, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Scot A. Marciel to be Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia. The WH released the following brief bio:

Scot Marciel is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and concurrently as Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs. He previously served as Director of the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia; Director of the Office of Mainland Southeast Asia; Director of the Office of Southeast Europe; and Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. He has also served in Hong Kong, Hanoi, Sao Paulo, and Manila.

Mr. Marciel received a Master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a BA from the University of California at Davis.

On July 1, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Michele T. Bond to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho. The WH released the following brief bio:

Michele T. Bond is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Minister-Counselor. She currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizens Services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs. She previously served as Director of Consular Affairs’ Office of Policy Coordination and Public Affairs, Managing Director for Overseas Citizens Services, and Director of Consular Training at the Foreign Service Institute. Overseas postings include Guatemala City, Belgrade, Prague, Moscow and Amsterdam, where she was Consul General.

Mrs. Bond received a B.A. with honors from Wellesley College and Master’s degrees from the National War College and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

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As the OCS point person, Ms. Bond is a familiar face during State Department adoption briefings like this one, and in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. She is married to Clifford G. Bond who was the US Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2001-2004. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is also the Special Advisor to the Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe which monitors human rights and other committments of the 56 countries in the OSCE.

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On July 1, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Alexander A. Arvizu to be Ambassador to the Republic of Albania. The WH released the following brief bio:

Alexander Arvizu is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Minister-Counselor. He is currently the Director of Entry-Level Career Development and Assignments in the Department of State. Previously, he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Bangkok, Thailand, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His other overseas postings were Seoul, Korea and Osaka-Kobe, Japan. His Washington service includes a detail assignment to the National Security Council, where he was Director for Asian Affairs, and as a Member of the 46th Senior Seminar.

A native of Colorado, Mr. Arvizu received a B.S. degree from Georgetown University.

On July 1, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Nisha Desai Biswal to be Assistant Administrator for Asia for the United States Agency for International Development. The WH released the following brief bio:

Nisha Desai Biswal is the Majority Clerk for the State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on the Committee on Appropriations in the U.S. House of Representatives which has jurisdiction over the State Department, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other aspects of the international affairs budget. Ms. Biswal provides staff support to Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey and Subcommittee Chairwoman Nita Lowey in managing the appropriations and oversight of the U.S. international affairs budget. Ms. Biswal was the Director of Policy and Advocacy at InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S. based international humanitarian and development non-governmental organizations. She previously served on the professional staff of the House International Relations Committee where she was responsible for South and Central Asia policy as well as oversight of the State Department and USAID. Ms. Biswal worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development where she served as Special Assistant to the Administrator. During her four years at USAID, Ms. Biswal also worked in the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, the Office of Transition Initiatives, and served as chief of staff in the Management Bureau. Ms. Biswal has also worked with the American Red Cross both in their Washington headquarters and overseas as an international delegate in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

On July 1, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Duane E. Woerth with the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as U.S. Representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The WH released the following brief bio:

Duane E. Woerth is currently Senior Vice President at an internet advertising firm in Omaha, Nebraska that he co-founded. From 1999-2006, he served as president of the Air Line Pilots Association. Immediately following the attacks of 9/11, he was appointed by United States Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to serve on the Rapid Response Team for Aircraft Security. Additionally, he was Co-Chairman of the Next Generation Air Transportation System Executive Council, a private sector organization developed to work with the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration to modernize the National Airspace System through 2025. He has served on several airline boards of directors, including Northwest Airlines, and he is currently a director of Hawaiian Airlines.

Woerth earned a B.S. in business from the University of Nebraska and a Master’s from the University of Oklahoma. He served in the United States Air Force and the Kansas Air National Guard and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

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On July 1, President Obama announced his intent to nominate George A. Krol to be Ambassador to the Republic of Uzbekistan. The WH released the following brief bio:

George A. Krol is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Minister-Counselor. He currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. He previously served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Belarus, Minister Counselor at the United States Embassy in Moscow and has had other overseas postings in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, India and Poland. In Washington, he has held several assignments, including Director of the State Department Office of Russian Affairs, Special Assistant to the Ambassador–at-Large for the Newly Independent States and served on the faculty of the National War College.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but raised in New Jersey, Mr. Krol is a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University, England.

On June 28, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Norman L. Eisen to be Ambassador to the Czech Republic. The WH released the following brief bio:

Norman L. Eisen serves currently as Special Assistant to the President and as Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform. In that capacity, he has helped lead the Administration’s historic initiatives on government ethics, lobbying regulation and open government. His portfolio has also included financial regulatory reform, campaign finance law, whistleblower protection and other reform issues. Mr. Eisen served as the Deputy General Counsel to the Presidential Transition. Prior to the Administration, Mr. Eisen was a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Zuckerman Spaeder. He launched and co-chaired the firm’s Public Client Practice, representing government entities on an array of matters, as well as handling white-collar investigations and complex commercial matters. He is the co-founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group. Between college and law school, Mr. Eisen served for three years as an Assistant Director of the Los Angeles office of the Anti-Defamation League, a national civil rights organization.

Mr. Eisen received his J.D. in 1991 from Harvard Law School and his B.A. from Brown University in 1985, both with honors.

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On June 28, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Larry L. Palmer to be Ambassador to Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The WH released the following brief bio:

Larry L. Palmer is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He is currently serving as President and CEO of the Inter-American Foundation. Prior to that he served as U. S. Ambassador to the Republic of Honduras and as Charge D’Affaires in Quito, Ecuador. He also served as President of the 41st Senior Seminar and as Assistant to the President of the University of Texas at El Paso. Overseas posts include the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Paraguay, Korea, and Sierra Leone.

Born in Augusta, Georgia, Palmer received a B.A from Emory University, an M. Ed. from Texas Southern University and a Doctorate (Ed.D) in Higher Education Administration and African Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Palmer served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia.